Firestorm
by Nomi's Secret
Summary: Whatever happened to John Allerdyce after the Alcatraz Incident? What will he do? Will he run? Or stay and fight? Runs along the same timeline as 'Xavier's Rose'.
1. Old Self

**Firestorm**

**Chapter One- Old Self**

**_Author's Note- This is what happens to John/Pyro just after the events of X-men three. Running along the same timeline/events as Xavier's Rose just because...well you'll have to wait and see ;)_**

John ran from Alcatraz Island like everyone else. He didn't know who was still on it and frankly didn't care. His former best friend (Bobby), if he could have ever have called him that, had just beaten him in a power fight. John had decided to take a stand and fight while little old Bobby stood by Xavier and the other wimps choosing to take the homosapien view of things. He saw the people who had seen him as a betrayer run with him away from the true danger, the Phoenix. Even Magneto was afraid of her now. There was no way that Doctor Grey was her, she was too different, she was the other side of the coin. The night engulfed the crowd as they ran, making it hard to see and he heard many people crying and running into cars. He didn't go back and help them, he just kept running. He kept running over the bridge feeling the fire burning within him like it had never done before. It felt like it was driving him on, even though his legs were full of cramp and stitch attacked his sides he kept running. Suddenly the hard tarmac beneath his feet changed into soft soil. He couldn't stop though. He kept running, away from everyone else, away from everyone he had ever known. He felt the fire wanted a fresh start and it pushed him deeper into the Californian country side. It wanted a place to burn unhindered.

* * *

John ran for another two hours straight, he didn't take any notice of where he was going. He didn't look at the signs or the scenery as he ran past them, he just kept running. He finally came to a stop near a stream; he looked around at the little woodland scene he was part of. It was still dark but the blazing sun was starting to disperse the fleeing night in the east, the lightly forested area was silent apart from the trickling of the shallow stream. The lactic acid stinging his leg muscles was starting to get to him, he kept taking deep breaths and sat down on a rock close to the brook. After a few moments when the pain ceased to more of a dull ache, he ran his hand through his hair and looked at the water. He realised just how badly he needed a drink and rubbed at his parched throat. He looked at the cool water again and dipped his hand in pulling the water to his mouth. He swallowed it gratefully and reached in his pocket to find his favourite lighter. The one he always had with him. The one he was messing around with in his mother's living room when he first realised he was a mutant. He held it at eye level and stared at the cruel and mocking face of the shark. He felt the firestorm well up in him as he thought of everything that had happened to him in the past. His parent's disownment, his friend's betrayal, his weaknesses against Bobby. For one moment it got too much for him and he lashed out at the entire world. He flicked the lighter open and stood up quickly stretching his arm out and turning the trees, leaves and other forest debris to ash. It only lasted a second but it worked. Everything was better now, the inferno was gone, he was neutral again if only for a short time. He put the lighter back into his pocket and he turned back to the east. He stared into the sun's burning heart and knew at that moment he'd always rather be fiery, untameable, full of fury and a god dam pain in the arse than tranquil, comforting, balanced and everyone's best friend. Like Bobby.

During those few seconds he realised that John Allerdyce was well and truly gone…he was Pyro now. Always would be. No matter what anyone said. His old self was gone and there was nothing anyone could do anything to make him turn back now.

He saw that the night had nearly fully disappeared. He turned and walked west, through the destruction he had caused, his feet making almost no sound as they stood on the life he had turned to ash.


	2. Red Truck

**Chapter Two- Red Truck**

**_Author's Note- I forgot to thank HighQueenReicheru in my last chapter! Sorry! She helped me with a few things! lol, hope you enjoy this chapter!!!_**

Pyro didn't run anymore instead he walked quickly through the desert fields of Nevada. He saw few forms of life in the harsh wilderness, if he was lucky he saw a cactus or a small desert lizard. He didn't care though, he liked the lack of life, no one could sell him out as a mutant and he didn't have to listen to the annoying ramblings of stupid women in city bars.

* * *

After three more hours of straight walking, Pyro started to see things through lack of water. At one point he thought he saw a camel trail with Arabian men leading them on a desert path only they could see. A camel was dragging behind carrying silver spoons on its back. He stared in disbelieve as he saw it saunter lazily past him.

"You have to be kidding me…" he said to himself and he carried on walking a little further.

* * *

Two hours later he came across a dusty, deserted tarmac road. He saw a battered sign a few yards away and he moved towards it keeping an eye out for anymore hallucinations. The green direction sign told him that the town of Lovelock was twenty miles South East and Imlay was twenty five miles North West of his current position.

"Lovelock? Imlay? Who the hell names theses places?" he asked himself and he looked up and down the road.

No cars, no trucks, no form of life apart from himself. He sighed and started to walk south east, he hated the name Lovelock but it was closer and surely there was going to be a bar or something there. He walked along the edge of the road, the tarmac was easier on the feet.

* * *

At midday Pyro finally had to admit that the heat was finally getting to him. He'd ran all night with no rest and then walked for nearly six hours straight through the desert, without any water, even he didn't think that was smart. He sat down on the ground and caught his breath; vultures were starting to circle over head as he began to estimate just how long he had left to go before he found some form of civilisation.

"At least another eighteen miles…great…" he calculated and he threw a glance at the vultures above him.

He sighed as he stood up, he nearly lost his balance and he realised just how badly he needed a drink. His eye sight went blurry for a few seconds and a deep headache set in. At the same time he heard what sounded like a truck driving down the road towards him, he turned to see a red, rusted up, heap of junk coming towards him. Pyro turned and dismissed the truck as another hallucination. He couldn't be bothered wasting the energy anymore. He carried on walking but a few seconds later the truck caught up with him. He heard the driver put the brake on and get out of the truck as he carried on walking.

"Hey…you need any help?" a thick, male, Cajun accent asked.

Pyro didn't turn around but instead answered, "yeah like I'm gonna get help from a hallucination…"

"I'm no hallucination" the voice told him and Pyro heard them walking towards him.

He turned around to face him with the lighter in his hand and he flicked it open, "do you guys like chargrill? 'Cos if you get any closer that's what's gonna happen"

A tall man stood expectantly looking at him, he had long hair for a man and it was brown and pushed back casually falling out of place, "fine…grill me, if you can…"

Pyro did what he wanted to do, but the flames got no further than a few inches because his lighter had been knocked out of his hand by a playing card. It landed in the dust a few yards away and he looked at the man who had disarmed him, "cards?"

"Yeah…you aint the only one with powers…" he started to walk back to his truck.

Pyro bent down and retrieved the lighter; he pushed it into his pocket and looked at the basic playing card the man had used against him. It was one that could be found in any ninety nine cent packet.

"You coming or not?" the man shouted as he opened the door and got into his truck.

"What have I got to loose?" he said to himself and shortly ran to the truck and got in the passenger seat.

The truck drove off down the road in the direction of Lovelock.


	3. Introductions

**Chapter Three- Introductions**

**_Author's Note- Sorry this took so long! Been a bit busy and I'm also sorry for the amount of times I wrote Pyro/Gambit! Enjoy!_**

The drive had taken longer than Pyro could ever have imagined. The stupid two bit truck couldn't go any faster than ten miles an hour down the flat dusty road that stretched out in front of them. An hour and a half in to the drive he could feel himself beginning to loose it again. His arse was numb and he began flicking his lighter at a much faster rate.

"So what do they call card throwers?" he said sarcastically to his new found companion trying to start a conversation.

"If you mean what my name is, its Gambit" he told him as he reached down below the radio and flicked the car lighter on.

"Gambit?" Pyro laughed as the driver reached in his pocket and retrieved a cigar popping it in his mouth.

"Well what do they call cocky arseholes like you?" he said while balancing the cigar in his mouth and the car light glowed red to show it was heated up.

"Pyro…" he said as he watched him raise the car lighter to the end of the cigar and placed it back.

"Pyro?" Gambit laughed puffing on the cigar and removing it from his mouth to hold it in his right hand, "What's your real name?"

"That's it" Pyro said and looked out of the window.

"Yeah right, come on out with it or you'll be stuck out there again" Gambit jutted a thumb in the direction of the desert.

"I was called John…" he said quietly and full of anger at the pathetic name his parents had chosen for him.

"Was?" he questioned to himself "John? Hmm…"

"What about your real name?" Pyro turned on Gambit and asked him the same question.

"You'll laugh…" Gambit gave Pyro a sideways look as he continued to drive.

"Oh yeah…how bad can your name be?" he asked.

"Remy LeBeau…" Gambit said and Pyro snickered.

"Still I s'pose they call all you Cajuns something like that" Pyro couldn't stop himself from making the comment.

"Excuse me?" Gambit looked at him, the shadow caused by his hat falling on his eyes making him look dangerous.

"You heard me" Pyro said as the outside scenery began to get a little greener and they drove past a sigh proclaiming 'Lovelock'.

"Looks like we're here…" the older man said to himself with a sigh.

* * *

They drove through the small town and Gambit finally parked the car up in a small and deserted parking lot outside a tacky all night diner. They exited the vehicle and Pyro slammed the car door shut behind him. This earned him a death glare from Gambit.

"What?" Pyro questioned after he saw the look.

"You slammed the door!" Gambit stated.

"And?" he couldn't see the problem.

"And don't slam it!" Gambit told him angrily.

"Why not?" Pyro wondered getting a little pissed off.

"Cos it aint your truck!" the older man said.

"Okay…jeez calm down and eat something spicy…" Pyro finished the argument and walked off towards the diner.

Even though it had only taken them two hours to get into Lovelock itself Gambit had insisted on driving around the town for three hours making sure he knew its layout perfectly. Hopefully now he knew the exits, the layout of the suburbs and the town centre because Pyro certainly did. The extra drive meant that it was half past six and Pyro was starving so badly his stomach had gone numb. He had decided as soon as he had met Gambit that he was strange and kinda…an ally.

He entered the diner before Gambit who followed after him only a few metres behind.


	4. Lovelock Diner

**Chapter Four- Lovelock Diner**

Pyro sat down at the counter and took a packet of gum from the display next to the till. No one noticed and the overweight waitress to talking on the phone a bit too loud to someone no one cared about. Gambit sat down next to him and Pyro noticed him checking the exits.

"What are you doing?" Pyro questioned him.

"Making sure I have an escape route" Gambit told him as he cast a shady eye of the people in the diner.

"You're paranoid" he told him.

"You would be too if you've nearly been caught by vigilantes three times…" the older guy said casting another look around the room.

Pyro rolled his eyes and clicked his fingers at the middle aged waitress as she placed the receiver back where it belonged. She trotted over not even bothering to try and form her podgy lips into a smile.

"Yeah?" she said unenthusiastically.

"Can I have a cheese burger with a side of fries and a coke" he said and she noted it down in her little pad.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Yeah… smile would be nice or can't you make your overweight cheeks form a smile? Hmm?" Pyro asked her and saw her piggy eyes widen.

"Why I oughta-" she started but Gambit interrupted.

"Madam I am so sorry for his behaviour, it is out of order but he hasn't eaten for a few days so can you be a doll" he looked at her name tag, "Joan and make two of those orders?"

"Anything for a charmer" she said smiling at him but when her eyes moved over to Pyro it disappeared and a frown took its place.

She walked off into the kitchen and Pyro sent Gambit a sideways look.

"What?" Gambit asked.

"Charmer? You? Can you also hypnotize people?" Pyro chuckled.

He didn't answer and Pyro stopped chuckling. Gambit waited until he was looking elsewhere and he took Pyro's gum out of his pocket without him noticing, he popped it in his mouth and placed the rest of the packet on the counter. Pyro was looking around the diner and saw an elderly couple sat in a booth and a trucker reading a paper further down the counter. He sighed and looked back round, he noticed a small gum packet on the counter.

"What the…" he checked his pocket and Gambit started laughing as Pyro noticed that his packet of gum was missing.

Pyro looked at Gambit who was chewing gum and laughing as the diner waitress brought two plates of cheese burgers and fries out.

"There ya go Hun…" the waitress said to Gambit as she placed them on the counter in front of them.

"Thanks" Gambit managed to say to her and when she left he continued, "Should teach you to steal…"

Pyro gave him a steely look and put the gum back into his pocket, "What about you?"

"Me? Hell, I grew up as a thief…it's in the blood" he said as he poured ketchup on the fries and started to eat them quickly.

Pyro didn't continue the conversation instead he ate his food in silence and his mind wondered what the others would be doing, probably living like hero's at that school, he wondered how the Professor was doing in his little coma. He thought it was a shame that the phoenix didn't have chance to finish him off.

When he had finished he found Gambit still looking around, "you really need help…"

"Oh yeah…you got any money?" he asked Pyro.

"Wait…nope" he did a mock search for cash as he pattered his pockets.

"Well…we better make a dash for it then" he wasn't joking Pyro realised.

"In your truck? Ha! I'd rather wash dishes…" he commented as the waitress made her way over with the bill.

"And not have a ride at all?" already Gambit knew where to hit him.

Pyro sighed and they both bolted for the door and into the truck. The waitress shouted after them and a few heads turned but nothing more. They slammed the doors shut and Gambit started up the engine, he reversed out of the lot and made a way out of the city avoiding the main roads. It looked like the truck could go faster than ten miles an hour after all.


	5. Utah State

**Chapter Five- Utah State**

Pyro slipped another piece of gum into his mouth as they drove through the Nevada desert, he looked out of the window again and thought that the desert looked quite peaceful at night. The sand took on a purple and grey tinge, the cacti stood like sentries guarding the way but the deep, impenetrable shadows of the dust mountains intrigued him way too much. He felt his eyes grow heavy as Gambit tuned the radio in, this shocked him awake momentarily.

"You did that on purpose…" he said with a yawn.

"And?" Gambit asked but Pyro chose to ignore him and rested his head against the door, his eyes closed after a few moments and he was well and truly asleep.

Gambit looked over at the teenager and sighed, he turned the radio down and carried on driving.

* * *

Six hours later Pyro felt the truck come to a stop but he merely went back to his dream. Gambit cast him another look and sighed, he opened the door and slammed it shut. It still didn't have any effect on the much younger man, so Gambit chose to walk around the front of the truck and he considered what he was going to do for a moment. He shook his head and opened the door that Pyro was resting against. Pyro fell out of the truck because it didn't have any seat belts. He was in a daze until his body came into contact with the ground. It wasn't sand, but it wasn't grass. It was dirt. He pulled himself up and looked at Gambit who was chuckling to himself, he seemed quite proud of what he had done.

"You think that's funny do you?" he asked him.

"Actually yeah, I do…" Gambit told him still chuckling to himself.

At that moment Pyro lost it and he whipped out his lighter flicking it open in the direction of Gambit who saw it coming and in turn pulled out a staff from the back of the truck. They both stood there ready for a fight at any second. But instead of fighting they both started laughing, laying down their arms. Gambit put his staff back into the truck and Pyro placed his lighter back into his pocket. He looked around and saw that the scenery had changed quite a bit, there was greenery around them and he heard a river running near by. Gambit had also parked behind some dense trees so that no one would see the dull red of the truck.

Pyro looked at Gambit, "Where are we?"

"We are in Utah State, near the Capitol Reef National Park…" he told him as he went off in search of the river.

Pyro walked after him, "How did you know that?"

Gambit turned around to face him and pointed to a green sign not too far away that read, "Capitol Reef National Park".

"You really should look around once in a while…" he told the guy with a short fuse as they went deeper into the bushes and finally found the river.

Pyro looked at it and saw that it was quite deep and fast flowing but they managed to find a little nook upstream where the current wasn't so bad. After they both had something to drink, Gambit stood near the water and looked out over the wildlife, Pyro sneaked up behind him and pushed him into the river. He fell into the river and reappeared a few moments later cursing in that strong accent.

"Thought you needed a wash!" Pyro shouted at him and walked off back towards the truck.

* * *

Half an hour later Gambit appeared back at the truck looking a little unhappy to say the least. Pyro was laid on the grass sunning himself when he returned.

"Any cleaner?" he asked him sarcastically.

Gambit just looked at him and laid down across both seats in the truck and got some shut eye.

* * *

Fifteen hours later they were back on the road and driving at a comfortable speed through the rest of Utah.

"Where are we going exactly?" Pyro asked.

Gambit shrugged, "No idea, just normally go where the feet take me but lately…I've been running…"

"From who?" he asked intrigued.

"Just…people…" Gambit told him and Pyro knew he wouldn't learn anymore information out of him so he returned to staring blankly out of the windscreen as Gambit changed gear.


	6. Western Colorado

**Chapter Six- Western Colorado**

A few weeks later Gambit was driving and they were in mountain territory now, they had moved through into Colorado a few hours earlier after spending a few uneventful weeks in Utah. They had managed to do a bit of work and earned a few dollars. Pyro was getting pissed off with all the hills, bumps and just general lack of anything apart from forested mountain sides. He sighed and cast a look over to Gambit.

"Any chance of civilisation?" he asked.

The older man sent him a tired and negative look as they passed a sign for Grand Junction City. They were only five miles away and he turned off on to a main road so that it would take them straight into it. Pyro was now starving and knew the quicker he got food the more civil he would be.

* * *

Half an hour later they were driving down the main street and passing various shops, cafes, hotels and fast food joints. Pyro watched them pass by and saw teenagers his own age enjoying their lives. None mutants who had nothing to worry about, he hated them just because they were human. They slowed down at a traffic light and a group of teenage girls giggled and laughed to themselves as they drank from water bottles. A girl near the front of the group, a brunette with long mahogany locks and tanned skin saw him looking and smiled and winked. Pyro rolled his eyes to himself as they lights changed to green and they continued moving down the road.

* * *

Ten minutes later they pulled up in the parking lot of a dingy motel. Gambit got out first and Pyro followed after him feeling even more pissed off because of the state of the place they were going to stay. They were only a few metres away from the entrance.

Suddenly Gambit turned on his heel and stared him straight in the face, "let me do the talking…"

"Sure thing…" he said in reply.

Then Gambit turned around and entered the lobby to the motel. He walked up to the college student who was reading a magazine behind the desk and chewing gum. The woman was blonde but wasn't pale like a natural blonde, Pyro could see her brown roots just starting to show. He chose to hang back behind Gambit as talked to her.

"Hi, can I have a room for the night?" he asked her smoothly.

The woman looked a little perplexed and she looked back at Pyro after a few seconds she dismissed the notion that entered her mind, "yeah but it'll be twenty five dollars…"

"Can we pay in the morning?" he leaned into her.

"Err…I don't see why not…" she said dreamily.

Pyro rolled his eyes because the woman was under his spell and he looked at the television screen that was on. It was showing the news.

The male newsreader was talking about mutant issues, "since the mutant crisis of mid June Doctor Hank McCoy had denied rumours of further mutant rebellion and more rumours about an anti-mutant terrorist group but lets recap the main stories of the thirty first of July-" Pyro's attention was broken as Gambit slapped him on the shoulder.

"Come on…our room is number thirteen" he told him.

* * *

As they walked outside up to their room Pyro kept thinking, he was strangely sad about how quickly his life had changed. He wondered how the others were getting on and the bitter resentment reappeared. Anger filled him as he thought of Bobby and Rogue together, how no girl had ever looked at him twice, none that knew him anyway. They all moved away and fell in love with sweet and caring Bobby. It wasn't like Pyro could be caring, he just had a different way of showing it and any girl with a back bone could be able to look after themselves and if they weren't…well they weren't worth his time.

He sighed and shook his head as he entered the room behind Gambit.

* * *

The next morning they got up early and left the twenty five dollars on the bed. They had eaten last night in a nearby diner and Pyro had had the comfortable floor as a bed. Still it was better than a night in the truck. They were driving back through the city when they saw it. A protest taking place outside the library. They drove through the crowd slowly and the protest starting getting violent. They mutant haters and apparently a mutant was working in the library. Gambit tried to drive a bit faster but a fight broke out right in front of the truck and people had signs saying, 'WHMG has the right idea, mutants out! Humans in!'

Pyro lost it when a middle aged man started shouting abuse at them, he got out of the truck that had now got to a stand still and Gambit tried to follow after him but got caught up by the group. Pyro marched up the steps and when he was at the top he shouted at the protesters trying to get their attention. But when he didn't he got out his lighter and sent fire up in the air above the crowd, they stopped moving and stared at him.

He took his chance, "what do you think you're doing? Mutants could kill you if they really wanted to…I wouldn't piss them off…"

Gambit finally made his way up to him and grabbed his arm pulling him away. The girl who had winked at Pyro yesterday now scowled at him and was holding a WHMG banner along with her friends. They made their way into the truck and Gambit started it up.

* * *

When they were out of the city, Gambit gave him a steely look, "what the hell did you do that for?"

"Wanted to…" Pyro didn't need to give more of a reason than that.

"You gave me away…gave us away…" he said and Pyro saw that his knuckles were white on the stirring wheel.

"So?" he didn't care and didn't know what he was talking about.

"So the WMHG know we're mutants…" Gambit said it as if it was obvious.

"Wow, so a stupid little anti-mutant group knows we're mutants, what they gonna do?" he asked the older man.

"You have no idea what they'll do…" there was a cold undertone to his voice that shocked Pyro but he shrugged and looked out of the window choosing not to talk about it.


	7. Merry Christmas

**Chapter Seven- Merry Christmas**

**_Author's Note- Sorry for this being soooooooo late lol. I had a bit of a blockage but it disappeared at roughly six pm british time lol. Thanks to ParaCaerOuVoar for listening to the little argument that I couldn't work out lol._**

Pyro and Gambit drove around Colorado for the next three month in hope of the heat dying town. When Gambit had felt it did they drove into Nebraska, the driver ignored him for the two duration of their time in Colorado and he was even more jumpy than before. Pyro just put it down to him being paranoid. In his mind the WMHG were stupid, wanna be vigilantes who were all talk and no action. Not much happened in Nebraska, to be honest it was rather quiet so when they pulled over in the state capital, Lincoln, Gambit was considering staying in the city.

* * *

They pulled over on to the sidewalk of a road branching off one of the main ones. It was Christmas time so the streets were lined with decorations and everyone was shopping for presents. Pyro was busy thinking and was in a strange day dream about a pale girl with black and purple hair doodling in a test so wasn't paying much attention to what was happening until Gambit got out and slammed the door. He was brought out of the dream and he looked around confused. He got out of the truck when he realised Gambit was walking off in the direction of a busy dinner.

"What are you doing?" Pyro asked him as he ran to catch up with him.

"Seeing if the heats off…" he said as they strolled into the diner and were greeted by the smiles of the waitresses.

"Can I get anything for you guys?" A young part time college student whose long brown hair was wrapped up in a French twist asked with a smile.

"Just a cup of coffee…" Gambit asked and Pyro merely shook his head.

She walked casually behind the counter and made the coffee while the two men sat down in a booth where they had a good view of the old TV that had tinsel hanging down the sides. A few moments later the woman appeared at their booth and set the cup of coffee down in front of Gambit and wished them a merry Christmas.

"Thanks…" Gambit smiled at her then turned his attention to the TV listening to the news.

"Back to national news…the mutant vigilante group WHMG has gained much support over the last few weeks as a few of its members attacked a known mutant and they spent the next few days in intensive care, they have been declared a terrorist group by the government and have denied that any member of government or congress are a part of or a supporter of the WMHG" the male presenter dressed in a neat and sharp blue suit told them.

"Looks like the heat isn't off just yet…" Pyro told him a bit tongue in cheek.

"Hmm…" Gambit considered his next actions, "I think…we'll stay here…in one place"

"What?" Pyro asked him a little concerned for his ally's sanity, "You, we spent a month running because you were scared of them…"

"Well…maybe the time for running has gone…maybe you were right and we shouldn't have to hide from a group of mutant haters…" Gambit partly spoke to him and partly spoke to himself.

Pyro cast him a bizarre look and then he sighed and fell back against the cushioned seat of the diner booth, "took you this long to figure that out?"

Gambit chuckled as he picked up the paper that had been left on the table by the previous customer and flicked through it until he came to the properties rentings page.

"Merry Christmas…you can say that again…" Pyro said to himself as he looked out into the gathering night and noticed it was starting to snow.

* * *

By the end of February the pair had access to a loft apartment close to the centre of the city. This suited Gambit fine as he was constantly out in the night and the women swarmed on him. Pyro never saw him bring one home though and whenever he asked him when he went icy with him and walked out of the room. He didn't think much of it until he woke up one day to find cuttings from newspapers scattered across the table. Pyro picked one up and read it. He discovered that the first known victim of the WMHG was a woman around the age of thirty five. He read the next part carefully 'She was a teleport and had been vicisously murdered in her own home that she shared with her fiancé-' Pyro couldn't finish because Gambit walked in through the door with a grocery bag. He dropped the article before he knew what was going on.

"You're even more paranoid then I first realised…" Pyro said to him eyeing the clippings.

"Hhmph thanks…" he said as he got a can of soda out of the bag and drank from it.

A few seconds later there was a knock at the door, Gambit and Pyro looked at each other with confusion crossing their features.

"Expecting anyone special?" Pyro asked sarcastically.

Gambit grimfaced, "No…what about you?"

The younger guy snorted, "Nope…"

The person on the other side of the door knocked again, only this time it was much louder. The much older man opened the door and men clad in black combats, battle gear and firearms rushing into the room.


	8. Close Call

**Chapter Eight- Close Call**

_Author's Note- Sorry about how late this is! Enjoy!_

"Get on the floor!" bellowed the man who looked in charge as the other troops surrounded them and pointed their guns at them.

"What! No!" Pyro shouted but Gambit shot him a look that said 'shut up'.

For the first time in months he listened to the look and closed his big mouth but he didn't get on the floor either.

"Get on the floor!" the black glad man shouted again.

Gambit was already on the floor and had his hands set out in front of him, Pyro scoffed at his cowardly action.

"You find something funny?" one of the team members asked.

"Yeah! In fact I find something ironic but…who are you?" the young mutant asked them.

"WMHG! We had received information that you are mutants who are dangerous to ordinary citizens" said a voice who sounded only a few years older than Pyro.

He laughed, "Dangerous? Us? No way…well maybe not him" he jutted his head in the direction of Gambit.

"We have our orders" was the reply.

"Which are?" Pyro asked while lowering his head and subtly putting his hand in his pocket where the fire lighter was.

"Find and neutralise you two…" a female voice replied and she took off her black mask to reveal a pretty but scarred face, "a mutant did this…people like you did this…"

He raised his eyebrows, "actually…people who just wanted to be happy and free did that…wasn't their fault you got in their way…"

The woman gave him a steely look and then replaced the mask.

"Hands out where we can see them!" the leader shouted again.

"Really? You want me to take my hands out of my pockets?" Pyro asked them.

"Shit…" Gambit said to himself and made sure he was able to scramble behind the sofa from where he was laid. He could.

"Take your hands out of your pockets and put them where we can see them!" the leader bellowed again.

"Sure thing…" Pyro said and a small smirk appeared on his face as he removed his hands from his pocket.

He flicked the fire lighter open and felt the fire burn within him. He flexed his arm while the WMHG troops looked on in confusion, suddenly Pyro turned on the spot at the same time as unleashing the fire.

* * *

A few moments later he stopped the flames and looked at the carnage he had created. Every member of the WMHG was either dead or badly burned, Pyro had found it strangely hard to take in…he had killed and maimed six people. Mutant haters sure but…still people. He sighed and stepped over to the coffee table…all the clippings had also been burnt and were unreadable.

"Gambit!" he shouted and shortly afterwards heard the Cajun accent making remarks.

"Yeah, I'm here you god-damn idiot! Coulda sweet talked them but no…have to give them a fire show…" Gambit stood up from behind the sofa and looked at what he had done.

"What?!" he asked in reply to the stern look the older man gave him.

"Trashed…not to mention they're dead!" he shouted.

"They would have killed us…" Pyro justified.

Gambit sighed, "Well we can't stay here…I'm going…"

"What?" Pyro was caught off guard by this.

"I'm leaving" Gambit said as he got up and started to move about the apartment.

"Wh-what? Where the hell am I meant to go?" Pyro asked being a little dumbstruck.

"Not with me" the older man said.

"But…please…" Pyro begged, if it could be called begging, for the first time in his life.

Gambit considered the man stood in front of him. He was cocky, arrogant, a pain in the arse and to put it plain and simple a little dangerous but aside from all the back chat he was good company…and he did feel slightly protective of the bugger.

"Fine…but no fire!" he said.

* * *

An hour later they were driving out of the outer city limits and into Iowa.


	9. Explains Everything

**Chapter Nine- Explains Everything**

For the next week they stuck to the back roads of Iowa State having very few conversations. Pyro often just stared out of the window and day dreamed about various things, sometimes it was his old life, other times it was what might happen when they pulled over in a town and once he dreamt that he was sat in a cell all alone and kept looking for someone. He didn't find them though.

Gambit on the other hand was…weird. It was strange about how he had acted when the WMHG had attacked them and his decision to take Pyro with him.

One evening Pyro bit the bullet and said, "Who were those clippings about?"

"No one…" Gambit said while he carried on driving.

"Yeah right…why do you care about her?" he asked and the older man ignored him, "Were you her fiancé?"

Gambit's jaw was set and his knuckles tightened against the steering wheel so Pyro knew he was on to the right track. He was getting warm.

"Still…what I don't get is that she was a teleport…how did they catch her?" he said more to himself.

Gambit allowed his breath to come seething out of his body.

"Meh…s'pose no one was there to protect her then…" Pyro said while sighing.

"You have no idea what happened…" Gambit said through clenched teeth.

The younger guy rolled his eyes and turned his head to look at him, "And you do? Or did you just read it in the paper?"

"You really want to know?" he asked him.

"Yeah…I do" Pyro said.

Gambit sighed as the rain began to fall, "Her name was Kristen…I met her about five years ago when I saw her working in a bar and this guy wouldn't leave her alone, I sorted him out for her but I startled her at one point…she ended up in Moscow" a sad smile appeared on his face, "I proposed three years later…we had a house together…I made a friend who came when I wasn't there…he must've seen her teleport and he called them…I came home to see what they'd done to her…after that I never stayed in one place long enough for anyone to find me…"

Pyro was silent, he couldn't think of anything to say apart from the obvious "Sorry…"

Gambit didn't reply and he kept driving, Pyro turned his head to the window and looked at the rain as it fell onto the glass and thought about everything. To be honest it made him understand his friend a lot more, it explained why he ran away from just about everything, it explained why he was so god-damn paranoid. In fact it explained just about everything about his behaviour.

* * *

Two weeks later Gambit deemed it safe for them to go into a small town. As usual they went into a diner. The late March air was strangely calm as they closed the door and sat down at the table where they could see the TV. They ordered their usual coffees and drank them quietly while waiting for the evening news to come on.

When it did come on it was the usual crap, brave children, horrific car accident, then it got onto the interesting stuff.

"Mutants are fearing the worst after the more dangerous attacks by the WMHG, they are scared for their safety and are planning to move to safer locations" the presenter said and Pyro turned around and stared out of the glass again.

This time he began thinking of the future and what the WMHG were really capable of and that mutants were just running from them, "Cowards, choosing to hide…its giving them what they want" he said to himself because that's all they really were. They were push overs.

"I know" Gambit said turning his head away from the screen, "Come on lets go…"


	10. Taken

**Chapter Ten- Taken**

Ever since Gambit told Pyro what had happened they were strangely closer yet further away. In short Pyro found it awkward now but felt slightly elated that he had actually told him about it. He kept having strange dreams too. The next one was him walking through a museum and looking at the portrait of a Duchess, he tried to dismiss it but it kept coming back. The next three months went quietly as they continued to stick to the side roads and they drove around Illinois and Indiana. When they showed up in a town or city they were quickly run out by the town's people. They saw a strange face and assumed the worst; they were either mutants or the WMHG.

After this got tiring…and they started to run out of towns they moved into the state of Ohio. They often drove through the cities now…when nothing had been on the radio about the WMHG being in that area that is.

Firstly they stopped at Toledo, on the edge of lake Erie. It was a quite city considering the weather was nice for the area and with it being May, but people were only on the main streets, they were scared.

When Pyro got out of the truck and walked along the boardwalk with Gambit he couldn't help but roll his eyes at the homosapiens. The WMHG weren't even after them and they were scared stiff. He leant against a wall and looked around.

"So…when did it happen?" Pyro asked Gambit, he didn't need to ask what he meant.

Gambit sighed, "A year and a half ago…"

He grimfaced and looked around again. He saw two middle aged men looking at them from a café window. Pyro stared at them and they stared back before turning back to their papers.

"Come on…we're drawing attention" he said, he would've fought them if they came up to him but he just knew something would go wrong and besides Gambit wasn't in the best of moods.

* * *

As they drove around for the next two months, Pyro swore he kept seeing the same guys over and over again. Each time they were closer and more threatening, the last time he saw them was in Akron.

He was sunbathing in the metal chair outside a café in the June sunshine. It was in the evening and Gambit had gone somewhere. Pyro took his sunglasses off and felt someone staring at the back of him head, he turned and saw the same two men. This time they were wearing black suits and were sat in a black and expensive car. One had a camera and was taking photographs while the other was just staring. Pyro sent them both a death stare and Gambit came back.

"What you looking at?" he asked.

"Nothing…" Pyro said and he turned his back on the men.

* * *

Two hours later they were walking back to the truck when they heard something move behind them. Gambit had parked down an alley because no one would look here, the sun was setting so the shadows were long which made it hard to see things. The older man cast a glance over his shoulder.

"Probably just a cat" Pyro said as he kept walking.

Gambit stopped and turned around fully, "I'm not so sure"

"Come on…" he said quiet sure it was nothing more than a cat.

Pyro was now at the truck and waiting at the passenger's door. Gambit sighed and walked up to the truck taking the keys out of his pocket. Pyro heard it before he saw it, people shuffling around the corner. Five or six people then charged at them with guns.

"Great…just great" the younger man said.

Gambit meanwhile pulled some cards out of his pocket and fired them at the troops, they missed most of them and only hit one on the shoulder.

The troops then opened fire on them, Pyro took refuge behind the truck and Gambit tried to dodge the bullets.

"Gambit!" he poked his head over the side of the truck, "Idiot! Get over here!"

He saw the troops aim and he ducked down again, when he lifted his head he saw that the bullets were the usual lead ones…they were plastic and green with some sort of solution in them. Pyro grabbed some and stuffed them in his pocket before turning his attention to Gambit. His friend was surrounded and they were firing at him constantly, one hit him in the arm while another got him in the abs. Pyro had enough, he stepped up from behind the truck and pulled his fire lighter out. As Gambit fell to the ground, Pyro unleashed his power and attacked. The fire blinded him and after a few seconds he stopped…only to find Gambit and the troops had gone.

He looked around again, just to make sure that they really were gone. He didn't understand it…how could they have gone?! Two seconds later Pyro heard car doors slam and he ran off in that direction. He ran out onto the pavement and the cars left just as he arrived.

"No" he said to himself.


	11. Teleportation

**Chapter Eleven- Teleportation **

**_Author's Note- Gambit's gone! =O Oh no! But three more friends are around to help Pyro...if anyone can tell me who anyone of them is, i'll give you a cyber chocolate! lol_**

**_Hint- They're from the comics...well one was in movie number two..._**

Pyro watched them drive off down the road at high speed and he chased after them, when he couldn't catch up he pulled out his firelighter but a soldier saw this and aimed his gun at him. He fired the small green bullet into Pyro's arm knocking him to the ground. He clutched at his arm in pain, it stung like hell and then something else happened. He went light headed and woozy. After taking a few deep breathes to steady himself, Pyro lifted his head so he could watch the cars drive around the corner and out of sight. A few seconds later he tried to stand but found the effort of doing so too much. By this time a crowd of people had gathered around him. Most of them were people coming home from work or going out to dinner, one or two of them were teenagers just like him.

It was clear what he was and most of them kept their distance but one woman burst through the crowd running at him, she was average in stature and looks but her hair…it was green! Not dyed green either, it was all natural. She knelt down next to him and took the bullet out of his arm, after studying it for a split second she put it in her pocket and looked him in the eye.

"You're a mutant, right?" she asked and noticed her accent didn't fit the area, she was from Wisconsin.

Pyro couldn't even find the strength to speak, he only nodded his head.

"Right…can you run?" she then asked him and he was dumbstruck, "s'pose not…"

The woman grabbed a cell phone out of the pocket of her brown trench coat and flicked it open, "hey, I need Kurt to pick me up…I have no idea but there's two of us…I'll explain when we get back."

He wished he heard the other side of the conversation but he knew he could guess most of it.

The woman closed the phone and put it back in her pocket before saying, "you ever teleported before?"

"Eh…no…" Pyro managed to stammer.

"Ah…you may want to hold your breath then" she told him and looked around after hearing a faint sound, she smiled into a dark alley way just as some cop cars came racing around the corner, "Here we go"

A few seconds later something appeared next to them and Pyro felt someone grab the back of his neck, the next thing he felt was horrible. It was like someone had punched him in the stomach several times and then hung him upside down for a split second. He closed his eyes until the feeling passed and he opened his eyes to find himself in a dark alleyway next to a warehouse. The woman was checking the person who had teleported them, Pyro recognised them from somewhere. He had blue skin, blue hair and weird markings over his skin. He seemed weakened and the next moment the door into the warehouse opened and a tallish woman stepped out into the alley way and looked down at the blue man. Her clothes were new but bland, she didn't want to stand out at all.

Her black hair hid her face and when she finally spoke she sounded Canadian, "come on, we better get inside…"

The green haired woman looked to Pyro as her friend spoke and she approached him offering a hand to help him up. He accepted it but when he did get to his feet he lost control and fainted.

The woman caught him but struggled with the weight, "Little help here?"

The black haired woman wasn't happy but helped her drag Pyro into the warehouse none the less. The blue man hobbled in after them and locked the door after checking no one had seen them.


	12. Request

**Chapter Twelve- Request**

**_Author's Note- Well i have to say people did very well =D. You all guessed Nightcrawler correctly but only DevilChile got two outta three! Sorry this chappy took a while, Enjoy!_**

Pyro came around groggily and thought he'd had one to many beers at the bar, Gambit must've taken him back to the car. Or that's what he thought until he realised he was in a bed.

_Did I pick up a girl or something?_ He thought hazily.

After a few moments he heard people talking, two women and one man. Then he remembered the green haired woman and feeling sick. He shot upright and realised he was naked beneath the sheets. This grabbed the attention of the group of strangers. Pyro looked at them worriedly and noticed the blue guy was sat down talking a swing of water while the two women were looking back at him curiously. The green haired woman had taken her trench coat off and it revealed her skinny jeans, boots and plain but stylish top. The older woman on the other hand looked the same.

They exchanged a glance before the older woman approached him. The green haired women on the other hand went back to checking on the blue guy.

"Hey…" her Canadian voice sounded in his ears, "You fainted after being injected with something the WMHG like to call Protection Solution"

"What?" he said warily.

"It stops mutant powers for a while…and knocks them out" she said calmly.

Pyro nodded to show he understood, his head was swimming in questions he just had to ask, "Who are you?"

"As in who are we? Or just me in particular?" she asked but answered her own questions, "I'm Aurora and I run the only known group that opposes the WMHG, we're called Alpha Fight…we have a lot of members spread all over the U.S but we're the original three…that's Kurt Wagner AKA Nightcrawler and the woman with the green hair is Lorna Dane she prefers to go by the name of Polaris to protect her family."

Pyro looked at them all and said, "you oppose the WMHG?"

"We sure do" Aurora said with a smile.

"Can you help me?" he asked before he'd even thought his request through.

"Erm, sure depends on what though…" the woman said cautiously.

"My friend…he got kidnapped, can we get him back?" he told them.

"We…we cant at this minute because we're keeping tabs on certain people who may be members but…in time once this operation is over. Then sure we'll help you." She told him honestly, but he could tell she didn't know how long it would be until they were ready though…

Pyro again became extremely aware of his situation and hurriedly grabbed the white sheets and pulled them up to his chest. This caused Polaris to laugh suddenly at his reaction. He shot her a look but she just smiled and shook her head.

Aurora answered his unsaid question, "don't worry, Polaris undressed you so you wouldn't over heat. It's one of the main side effects of the Protection Solution."

Pyro nodded while casting a side ways glance to Polaris who was busy tending to Nightcrawler, "What's up with him?"

The woman sighed, "he's a powerful teleport but he can only teleport one other person comfortably, two is kind of pushing it…it puts his body under massive strain."

He nodded and took in the details of the room he was in. It was basically a large warehouse but had all the furnishings of a home. It had a kitchen in one corner, then a living room with a TV and sofas then there was the area he was in. It was their medical centre effectively and he was lying in the recovery bed.

He laid back down and allowed the rest of the solution to wear off, after a short while he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	13. Twirling Spoons

**Chapter Thirteen- Twirling Spoons**

**_Author's Note- Sorry it took so long!_ **

After a few hours Pyro could walk and talk without the protection solution affecting him, Aurora told him that the solution stayed in the body for roughly a month and would affect his powers if he used them extensively but it was most dangerous if the WMHG found him while it was still in his system. Mutants apparently gave off a high signature anyway but this solution made their body temperature sky rocket.

Pyro thought about what he'd just found out while he was sat at the table drinking a cool glass of water, he also found out how he was going to help Gambit. There was still the truck but…where would they take him? What would they do?

He was brought out of his trance when Polaris sat on the stool next to him and started twirling a metal spoon without touching it.

"That your power? Twirling spoons?" he asked sarcastically.

"No…I can create magnetic force fields…I'm practising" she told him without much emotion entering her voice.

"Oh…alright…how long has the resistance been up?" Pyro asked her.

"I'd say…four months" she said while tucking green hair behind a pale ear.

"And you already have people all over the country?" he asked a little gob smacked.

"Yeah, mutants have gone into hiding and think that there's gonna be another war…" Polaris sounded distant.

"There wont…and we'll win if there is one" Pyro said.

"Yeah…that's what Aurora says but…the x-men are staying out of it for now…and we won't have a chance with out Xavier or any of them" she told him.

The conversation died with the comment and they both wondered how long the resistance was going to stay underground.

* * *

Over the next few days Pyro stayed in the warehouse while Nightcrawler, Aurora and Polaris went out a various times on missions. They were checking out people who were supposed members of the WMHG, three of the leads were wrong and they were still looking at one of them.

Once or twice they went to meetings with other Alpha fight members, Pyro chose not to go to these…until three days after he had first met the group when he decided he need to know as much as possible if he was going to help Gambit.

* * *

At seven p.m. they left the warehouse and walked down the main road confidently before dodging down a side alley and going into an old fashioned bar. Aurora led the way with Polaris and Nightcrawler behind her, Pyro stuck to the back of the group as they entered a room separate from the rest of the bar.

There was a large table in the middle of the room with roughly twenty mutants of different abilities and ages sat around it, there were three spaces at the table and the other sat down, Pyro on the other hand stood by the wall.

A quick discussion followed that was about where the X-men stood in all of this.

A middle aged man started the conversation, "what about Xavier? What does he think?"

"We don't know…something has happened and he isn't risking the school or himself, he doesn't want to fight" Aurora told the group.

_What? What could have happened? The X-men don't stand by…_

Then the group descended into an argument, Pyro couldn't tell who was saying what and what it all meant, "what are we gonna do?! We can't let them win! We should fight! We should hide!" were a few of the things that were being said.

Aurora struggled to control the group, "Quiet! Quiet!"

The others couldn't do anything as the group nearly became a riot. Pyro was fed up of it, he had a headache, he was stuck with Alpha fight he might as well do something.

He stepped up next to Aurora and grabbed his fire lighter, he caused a huge fireball in the centre of the room. It took a lot more out of him than he expected but it got their attention and the people looked at him expectantly.

Then he did something he never expected, he made a speech, "You think this resistance is strong enough to start fighting? Don't any of you remember what Magneto did? And what happened…the X-men stopped them…Over a hundred mutants fought that night and it took less than ten people to stop them! If the X-men aren't on our side or aren't willing to fight then the battle will be a lot bloodier than we expected yet we can't just sit by. We need to find out who is in the WMHG, where their bases are and make sure we can take them on…"

The crowd settled and nodded agreeing with his words, Aurora then took the stage and they came up with a new plan. How they would find out who was in the WMHG and to get information…they would meet up in a weeks time to finalise everything.


	14. Yellow Taxi's

**Chapter fourteen- Yellow Taxi's**

_**Author's Notes- Sorry this took so long! Enjoy! =D**_

A few weeks later at the beginning of July, Alpha Fight met up again at the bar. The group had dwindled in number, mainly because a few members had got caught while trying to find out information about the WMHG.

Aurora led the meeting as usual and the group shared the information they had gathered. Polaris was stood at the door, looking through the small spy glass in the door making sure no one could listen into their conversations, Nightcrawler was hunched on a desk near by listening intently and taking an active role in the discussion. Pyro on the other hand was stood at the back of the room flicking his fire lighter on and off looking slightly bored.

One member, a crippled old man claimed, "a member of the WMHG is in the government, working under Hank McCoy himself…"

"Do you have any evidence to back this up?" Aurora questioned.

"Ricky, my nephew got captured while trying to obtain the evidence" the man told them.

The group had nothing else to say about this so they moved on to a different topic.

"So…how goes the search in finding the WMHG bases?" someone asked.

"Not well" a woman in her early thirties told them, "We have found some potential area's where there may be bases…"

"These are?" Nightcrawler asked.

"The ones we have located so far are in Nebraska, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina" the woman told them all.

Pyro's ears pricked up, maybe they took Gambit to one of these.

"Ohio? This close?" Polaris pondered looking towards the table before looking back through the spy hole.

"It seems so…" Aurora said quietly, "did anyone go to investigate these places?"

The woman sighed, "we had someone go to give the area's a basic sweep…they still haven't returned"

Aurora started to say something but there was a knock at the door, Polaris looked and said, "It looks like the police…"

Everyone looked at each other, Aurora calmed them down before they even became worried, "all we need to do is act normal, like we do when we're at home…just remain calm…open the door"

Polaris did as she was told and opened the door fully, only to be punched into the face, she fell to the ground and was out for the count. Then men in black combats charged into the room, everyone knew who they were…and they resisted.

Aurora unleashed an energy blast while running so fast no one could see her, but a soldier with night vision goggles on hit her around the face knocking her out, other members of Alpha fight tried their best to attack including Pyro who was still weak from the protection solution.

After a little while when it was clear they were going to loose the fight, Nightcrawler shouted, "Pyro go to Polaris!"

Pyro didn't understand why but he did as he was told and knelt down beside the woman only to feel the tell-tale grip of a blue hand on his shoulder and the queasy feeling of being pulled apart and rebuilt.

* * *

He opened his eyes to find himself down a dark alley way along with an unconscious Polaris and a worn out Nightcrawler. Pyro staggered to his feet and wandered over to the end of the alley way seeing yellow taxi's zooming by next to wide sidewalks.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"New York…" Nightcrawler stammered, "it's the only place Alpha fight hasn't got connections…we should be safe here"

_Safe? How could anywhere be safe?_


	15. A Place To Stay

**Firestorm**

_**Author's Note- Hey! Sorry it took so long! I promise I am definitely going to update quicker than that! Hope you enjoy this one! **_

_**Chapter Fifteen- A Place To Stay**_

New York City. It was a strange place, probably the strangest place Pyro had been to on his travels. It was just…someone who was blue and covered in scars and a seemingly normal guy carrying an unconscious green haired woman could walk around freely and no one blinked an eye! Still then again they probably thought that it was for some stupid television show poking fun at the mutant crisis, it would be the first or the last and they knew it.

But even so Pyro, Nightcrawler and Polaris stuck to the back streets of the city, places where there weren't going to be any police or anyone who would call the police. It had started raining softly on them as they struggled to find a place to stay. They knew no hotel was going to accept them, no taxi was going to take them anywhere so even if they wanted to go to Xavier's mansion they couldn't and they didn't know any mutants within city limits. Not that they could be trusted, mutants had started turning on each other to save their own skin by the looks of things.

In the end they settled for an abandoned house, it looked like it had been involved in a fire and a sign telling them it was derelict was posted on the door. So no one would be paying them a visit anytime soon and it was going to be easy getting into it.

Or so they thought.

Because Nightcrawler had teleported two people other than himself less than two hours ago he was still tired and needed rest and Polaris hadn't woken up since her bang on the head. That left Pyro as the only able bodied person there, he had to keep hold of Polaris as he didn't want to put her on the wet ground and Nightcrawler couldn't carry her. He balanced her on his shoulders cursing under his breath and wishing she was lighter than she was and began kicking in the piece of wood the fire department had put over the door to prevent entry. Luckily thunder had just sounded and it helped him cover the sound of his foot making contact with the wood.

After five times he broke through and moved inside bobbing his head down and making sure he didn't knock Polaris either. Nightcrawler followed him inside and they made their way through into what would have been the dining room before settling down. Pyro laid her down not quite as softly as he had liked, she was going to ache when she woke up.

He then sat down himself, after running his hands through his hair and staring off into the far wall for a few moments he asked his conscious friend, "So…how did they find us?"

"I don't know," was all he said at first, "they must've found someone and made them talk or they had someone infiltrated into Alpha fight from the beginning"

"I guess its possible" he whispered, "What'll happen to the others?"

Nightcrawler shrugged, "they'll be took to a compound, tortured, experimented upon and then killed,"

Pyro cast him an angry look, "you sure?"

"From what I have heard that is true but" he paused, "part of me fears the rumours are true yet I pray they are not"

As the storm grew stronger and came closer they became silent and decided to sleep, they needed as much energy as they could muster. This time they were going to be on the offensive, Pyro knew it and had a plan but he needed the others help for it to work.


	16. Planning

**Chapter Sixteen- Planning**

_**Author's Note- hey sorry this has taken a while to get up! Enjoy!**_

In the morning they were all full of energy, Polaris had woken up and she was fine, no sign of nausea or anything. Pyro thought this was the right time to bring up his plan.

"Guys?" he asked and got their attention, "I have an idea"

"Which is?" Nightcrawler asked with a sideways glance, he had just been exploring the upper floors of this abandoned building.

He chose his words carefully, "we find out where the closest hideout of theirs is"

"And how would we do that genius?" Polaris was getting increasingly snappy, she was sat on the floor looking out of the nearest window.

Pyro shot her a 'let me finish' look before continuing, "we can either capture some members of the WMHG or get them to talk or we can infiltrate the base ourselves"

"How would we do the first one then?" Nightcrawler asked as he pondered the options.

"well, we'd cause a distraction somewhere public but get one of us to call them and tell them where to find us...making out there's only one of us and we ambush them" he told them.

The blue man seemed confused, "what if they send out more people then we can take down?"

Pyro had thought of this, "we get you to teleport them out, there'd only be you and them that way while me and Polaris look on from the street, they'd have no idea we were with you"

Polaris nodded, "but where would we take the person captured?"

He shrugged, "back here I s'pose and the attack would have to happen in public I guess"

"What about option two?" she asked worriedly.

He sighed, "the same as before but one person has to be taken by them, obviously we'll have a tracker on them I'm sure Alpha Fight had something like that in the warehouse right?"

"Yes but they might have been taken" Nightcrawler informed them.

"Could you get them if they're still there?" Polaris asked him.

He considered for a moment before answering, "Well of course, I'd be able to do it tomorrow night if I have something to eat"

"Then that's alright" Pyro said with conviction.

"But which one are we going to do?" She asked him.

The two men thought for a moment and looked at each other, it was Nightcrawler who answered, "how about we do plan one first and then plan two so we don't walk into the base blind as it were"

The woman and other man nodded eagerly at the thought that they were finally going to do something to stand against the WMHG.

Polaris thought for a moment, "So what's the disruption going to be? How are we going to get their attention and that of a crowd?"

"Hmmm...what's the main places in New York? Where the tourists go?" Pyro asked them.

Nightcrawler thought for a moment, "Well there's the Statue of Liberty"

He shook his head, "it's too expected"

"How about Times Square?" Polaris offered.

"Too much traffic, we wouldn't be able to spot if they were there or not" he told them.

"The art and history museum?" Nightcrawler said, "it'll have tourists in it yet isn't too busy for us to be blind"

"That would work, how are we gonna cause a distraction though?" he wondered.

"Simple" Polaris started, "someone exposes themselves"

She didn't mean expose as in streak naked though a room that included the works of Da Vinci and Picasso, she meant someone had to expose themselves as a mutant, which included someone using their powers in a room full of people.

"And" she continued, "That would mean Nightcrawler because he's the only one with the ability to transport himself and get out of their pretty easily. We'd have your back in the crowd if anything went wrong though"

"Thanks" he said half heartedly.

"We'd better get something to eat then, I want us to do this today then we have the night to question the guy then Nightcrawler can go get the trackers"

They all nodded in agreement and left their deserted sanctuary to find a cafe of somewhere that served warm, filling food.


	17. Talking

**Chapter Seventeen- Talking**

_**Authors Note- hey this is where Pyro and Rose meet!**_

They found a cafe nearby and Polaris paid in cash, she was the only one who had got any money of them when they jumped ship. When they were partially awake they made their way over to the New York Art and History museum. They blended in apart from Nightcrawler who stayed in an alley nearby, it would be easy for him to escape with a hostage back to where they had spent the night.

Polaris sorted out their admission to the museum and he was stood near the stupid modern art in the centre of the lobby when a bunch of teenagers came in. They were his age, but in school. He rolled his eyes as they entered the building and recognised some of them. Bobby, Kitty, Dew and Peter and someone else hanging around with them. He got his fire lighter out and started messing around with it flicking it open and closed. He studied the girl Bobby was drooling over.

She was average height with mid-length red hair and pale skin, she kept looking around and he noticed Ms Monroe walk to the same desk Polaris was at, luckily she didn't think anything of it.

She came back a few moments later, "so who's doing what?"

"You make the call and I'll point them in the right direction maybe we can use them" he nodded towards the kids.

"What?" she was confused.

"They're mutants...it'll attract the WMHG and we can just turn them into the alley" he told her flicking her lighter closed and shoving it in to his pocket.

She shrugged, "as long as they get here, which side are talking?"

He eyed the girl and saw the class move off towards the renaissance part of the building, "that way"

"Fine, I'll have my cell" she said knowing he had his in his pocket, she moved off to the ancient part of the museum that contained things from the greatest empires on Earth.

* * *

Pyro casually followed behind them for a while and when the girl was alone she was looking at the portrait of a German Duchess. Her arms were folded as she read the golden notice underneath the painting, he walked up next to her with his hands in his pockets and she didn't notice. He read the label in his head, 'This portrait was painted only weeks before she died, she was accused of being a witch by the local community because she seemed to heal spontaneously'.

"strange isn't it?" he said to her, his voice was angry as he read the notice again, he startled her and she turned to look at him with sparkling blue eyes and he felt lost for a second, "burnt at the stake and then beheaded because they thought she was a witch"

She didn't reply for while, "Oh...shame people couldn't just think..."

He scoffed, "yeah" he caught her eye and paused, "like nothing's changed"

"How do you know? Not everyone hates mutants" she said looking away.

He smiled, "how did you know I was talking about mutants?"

Her cheeks flashed pink, "oh erm what else would you be talking about?"

"Hehe, you're one of them aren't you?" he asked and didn't wait for a reply pulling out his fire lighter and flicking it open, "We shouldn't have to hide"

Pyro moved the flame with his hand and saw her look around nervously, he caught sight of her tight fitting jeans.

_Nice rear en_- his thought was interrupted when she looked him squarely in the eyes.

_Did I mention I was a telepath?_

He smiled at her and for the first time heard someone else's thoughts.

_Whoa big heat wave in the renaissance_ _section about twenty people too, I better tell the boss..._

At the same time the cell phone in his pocket vibrated to signal that Polaris was calling him, it was time to get on with the plan.

"Gotta go" he chimed, "nice _seeing_ you"

He walked off back towards the entrance of the museum where she would be waiting for him, the next move would be to direct them to where Nightcrawler was.


	18. Captain

**Chapter Eighteen- Captain**

_**Author's Note- hey! Hope you like this one! Enjoy! =D**_

Pyro walked quickly down the corridors and met up with Polaris in the lobby. She had just been looking at her cell when he arrived.

"You psychic or what?" she asked as they both walked out of the museum, "i was just about to call you"

He smiled and looked around, "found out via one"

"What?" she climbed down the steps two at a time and kept an eye out for the tell-tale signs of the WMHG.

"Doesn't matter" he sighed, "you call them?"

Polaris nodded, her green hair moving softly in the faint wind as she did, "yeah told them there was about twenty mutants in that building and one was aggressive and attacked me"

"How long till they get here?" he asked.

She calculated quickly in her head, "about" then a black van stopped in the street and several soldiers got out, "now"

He laughed, "You gotta talk to them?"

"They won't find him otherwise" she pouted just as the leader walked over to her while some of the others went inside.

"Miss?" he asked, "Are you Cathy Green?"

She nodded obediently.

He eyed her bold hair suspiciously.

"My style is kinda ironic" she smiled.

He grimfaced at the style some people used, "what did the assailant look like?"

She bit her lip and looked at the ground as Pyro watched on, "he had blue skin and a tail, not hard to miss"

The soldier clicked his tongue and looked at Pyro, "You are?"

"Her friend" he said coldly.

"You witness this event?" he asked as he made sure his gun was fully loaded.

Pyro shook his head, "nope although i did see the guy leave the building"

The soldier nodded just as some of his troops came out of the museum, "what direction did he run in?"

He thought for a moment, "that way" he pointed towards a quiet back street.

"Okay" he whistled to his other men and pointed in the same direction, "move out in that direction, in groups of three and radio in if you see anything"

The masked figures all gave him the thumbs up before venturing off down the streets. Pyro looked on with Polaris at the scene, they had willingly sent the enemy to their ally. They just hoped it was worth it.

-----------------

Shortly afterwards, when no one had radioed in about seeing anything and all the teams returned the captain looked back at the two young people.

"We think he might have gotten away" he said sombrely.

Polaris shouted, "What? No! He's out there and he's going to attack someone else i know it!"

He put his hands up and warned her to calm down, "don't let this work you up Cathy"

She did something Pyro didn't think she could, she started to cry, "You have to help...please"

He crumbled at her sincere form, "okay, I'll take out a team of three men myself and you can come with us and see for yourself"

She nodded as she leant on Pyro's shoulder crying crocodile tears into the fabric, "okay"

A few minutes later, the captain, three of the vigilante troops and Polaris and Pyro set out down the quiet streets looking for her alleged attacker and ready to run when Nightcrawler appeared and took the captain himself.


	19. I Hate Mutants

**Chapter Nineteen- I Hate Mutants**

They walked the abandoned streets for little over ten minutes before Polaris gasped in horror as she looked down a particularly shadowed side street. The streets had been cleared by the previous group of troops who had surveyed the area and cleared out all people around but anyone left was probably in the dilapidated apartments hiding away from the windows and doors in fear of being mistaken for a mutant and shot.

"There he is! There he is!" she screamed and pointed down the dark alley, she continued to wail in horror to add to her startling and terrifying effect.

She and Pyro had been walking roughly twenty paces ahead of the four men clad in black combats and bulletproof vests. Three of the men wore dark shiny helmets and masks that seemed a little too similar to the balaclavas used by common street thugs.

The captain ran over to them at a steady pace as the others looked on from the opening, after a few moments they gave him the thumbs down, "calm down miss we can't see him"

"But, but..." she started and stared deeper down the narrow street, "but he's right there!"

Pyro gazed into the gloom too and there was indeed their friend hunched behind a green dumpster just out of sight. He could barely see the orange of his hair just creeping up over the edge of the dumpster. If someone didn't know what they were looking for it was pretty hard to find him.

Polaris could tell he wasn't going to walk down the alley and into their trap...not without some form of persuasion. It took her all of a few seconds to figure out what to do.

She seemed to lose control, ripping out of Pyro's 'supporting' hold and charged towards Nightcrawler's half hidden figure. It wasn't long before the captain was barking orders to his men as she stalked deeper into the gloom.

"You three stay here!" he shouted at them, "if i need help then you help got that?"

They nodded obediently and stood guard at the entrance to the side road. Pyro watched him walk into the darkness and followed by running after hearing Polaris's cue. Her scream cut through the air like a searing hot iron poker. In the darkness he could make out the shape of Polaris's shaking figure as she screamed again at Nightcrawler as he advanced towards the captain. He raised his gun so he could fire straight into the mutants face but something shocked them out of his hands. Pyro glanced over at Polaris who gave him a coy wink, the defenceless man called back to his men in desperation.

"Help!" he shouted, "the mutants here! Shoot him!"

Then they knew how little time they had to act out their plan, almost instantly Nightcrawler jumped on the man and with a gush of wind they were gone. Pyro heard the approaching footsteps of the three other soldiers rushing down the alley. He took the initiative and crouched protectively over her in an attempt to make it look like he was trying to save or shield her from whatever had just occurred.

They bought it.

"What happened?" the tallest one said through the mask as he looked around at the discarded gun scattered a little over two metres away.

Polaris began sobbing, "He..." she struggled, "he took him"

"What?" the others asked and looked at the more coherent man.

He shrugged, "the gun was just thrown out of his hands and then the guy jumped on him and they both disappeared"

The three of them nodded thoughtfully to themselves then one of them muttered quietly to themselves, "I hate mutants"

Both Pyro and Polaris stopped and held their breath trying to hold the anger in. Before it could over take them a message came through on their walky-talky from the other team.

"What happened? Heard the scream from base" the reply crackled, they were too fazed to use the code talk they had been taught.

"captain's missing in action, mutant had some sort of teleport power" the shortest of the three whipped the small black box off of his belt and held it close to his mouth and ear.

"Best to regroup and search national then" the reply was a little more calmed but there was a hint of fear there.

"Will do, back in three" he told them and clipped the box back in its place and turned to the others, "gotta go back and do a full search"

They nodded solemnly and they made their way back to where the van was parked. Pyro and Polaris followed them for a street or two then they took a right instead of a left and doubled back before making their way back to the abandoned house.


	20. Captured

**Chapter Twenty- Captured**

_Hey! Sorry this has taken such a long time! Hope you enjoy it! XD_

Pyro struggled with the door handle a little. It was starting to rain and the steady pitter patter around him was starting to annoy him. Polaris pulled her hood up and poked him in the back just as a gang of teenagers walked past.

If they drew any form of attention it would mean that all they had worked for was useless. It would all be a waste and they'd be no closer to freeing Gambit or Aurora or any of the other members of Alpha Fight that had been captured.

He stiffened and whirled around eyeing her slyly. The teenagers looked up and jeered at them. They mocked them a little.

"Haha you seen that bitch's hair?" one of them shouted loudly.

"Ugh" Polaris groaned. She wasn't in the mood for this.

Pyro rolled his eyes and stuck his hands in his pockets. He felt the firelighter against his hands. It was cool and gave him an idea. Something he would regret.

The teenagers continued to hound them, "So what? Is she your girlfriend? Haha two freaks together!"

He bit down forcefully on his lip then asked them cheerfully, "hey, you guys want to see a magic trick?"

They seemed a bit dumb stuck at first as he walked down the steps to join them. They didn't notice the edge to his words. The dangerous sharpness that would've made many people run in the opposite direction. They looked at each other then all to a tall fat guy who looked like he'd been using his discount card at the donut store a little too much. He looked Pyro up and down then nodded, "sure"

He smiled at them and whipped out his firelighter.

Polaris looked down on the scene from the top of the steps. She folded her arms and leaned on the wall wondering what the hell was going on. Or wondering what she would have to get him out of.

He flicked the lighter open in one smooth movement and the flame appeared. They watched it for a moment and when nothing happened they peered at him angrily.

"That it?"

"A damn firelighter!"

"I could do that at home!"

Pyro burst out laughing and moved his hand over the flame while they were still talking. Only one or two noticed it and they stopped dead.

"Whoa…" one said, "do that again!"

He did and the others watched.

They were shocked and wanted to know how he had done it. He didn't reveal how though. Polaris couldn't help but smile from her post. Maybe she wouldn't have to help him after all.

"Awe come on! Tell us how!" they demanded.

He sighed, "Nope"

Something dawned in a girl's eyes, "oh god…you're…you're one of them!"

The others looked at her.

She continued almost whispering because of the terror she felt, "he's a mutant"

They turned on him then glaring angrily at him. A few grabbed sticks and metal scrapes that were part of someone's garbage to use as weapons.

Polaris shot up and Pyro kept his lighter open.

They advanced on him chanting hate messages.

"Kill them!"

"They're not even human!"

"Freaks!"

He laughed wildly, "Yeah we're the freaks! We're the ones taking people in the middle of the night claiming to be protecting people!"

He was losing it, Polaris could tell. He was going to do something stupid. She looked at what the kids were wearing and noticed they all wore metal belt buckles. It seemed like some gang thing. She saw him ready to swing his arm out at them. His arm with the firelighter. He was going to burn them to death. She made a snap decision and made herself known to the entire neighborhood.

She lifted her hand out to them and felt the energy store up inside her. She allowed it out in one sharp blast just as a wave of fire unleashed itself. The kids were thrown backwards on to the other side of the street. The effort almost crippled her and she fell to her knees. The power ebbed away.

Pyro glanced around and saw her on the ground. He realized she must've done it. There was no other mutant in the area who had a reason to use their power or had any control over metal. He ran up to the top of the steps and picked her up. Her nose was bleeding and she seemed to have a head ache but other than that she was fine.

They had attracted a lot of attention though. A group of angry and confused individuals had gathered in the street and it wasn't long before the girl pointed them out as the mutants who had done this.

The attention was kind of expected though. The blast hadn't only just thrown the kids to safety but had also thrown cars and dumpsters and any other metal object to the other side of whatever area they were in. In a three block radius. There was one hairy guy on the other side of the street that didn't seem fazed. Pyro looked him up and down wondering if he was deaf and blind.

Nightcrawler opened the door thoroughly alarmed at the noise. His tail was whipping around behind him showing his agitation, "what's going on?"

Both of them looked at him. There was the sound of police sirens in the distance and one car came speeding around the corner. It had to dodge a few upturned cars. Polaris and Pyro pushed past him and slammed the door back into place. They knew they were here. They didn't have much time. Nightcrawler continued to stare dumbfounded at them.

Polaris went into the room and found the man tied up to a chair. He was blind folded and gagged. She ripped both off. "Where are the compounds situated?" she demanded.

He laughed, "Like I'm going to tell you!"

She used desperate measures and kicked him in the balls, "tell us!"

He shook his head.

"I know you have a metal plate in your skull. I can feel it" she let it linger in the air, she knew the dimensions and the exact strength needed to rip it out of him, "I suggest you tell us before I decide to use it as a plate"

The threat had the desired effect. Words started to fall out of his mouth, "the nearest are in Maine, Ohio and North Carolina. I don't know anywhere else"

"If you capture mutants in New York where do you take them?" she shouted.

There was a harsh knock on the door, "NYPD open up!"

He stuttered, "O-O-Ohio. Unless it's overcrowded then it'd be Maine"

They had the information that they needed. They left him there and almost ran to the back of the house. They could escape down the alley ways. The door nearly fell off when Polaris kicked it. Nightcrawler made it to the alley first.

There were WMHG troops already there. He didn't have time to react before he was hit with the protection solution. Several darts hit him squarely in the back. Polaris was the next to get it. The guns were plastic so she couldn't touch them. Pyro tried to run down the clear end of the alley. He got hit in the back and he saw the hairy guy behind a nearby dumpster.

His eyes flickered and he was out for the count.


End file.
